On 3 April 2023, the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, held an advocacy meeting with the Minister of Justice of Namibia, Hon Yvonne Dausab, and other senior officials drawn from the Ministry of Justice, Home Affairs, and Disaster Management Directorate of the Office of the Prime Minister of the Government of Namibia. The meeting was aimed at stimulating a national conversation about the ratification by Namibia of three Protocols to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Charter), and the African Union (AU) Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (‘Kampala’ Convention).
The three Protocols to the African Charter are the 2016 Protocol on the Rights of Older Persons, the 2018 Protocol on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the 2022 Protocol on Social Assistance. None of these Protocols is in force yet, as the required 15 state parties to the Charter have not yet ratified them. Namibia is a state party to the African Charter but has not yet ratified the three Protocols. During discussions, it was pointed out that Namibia is a state party and complies with its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The Minister emphasised that Namibia has shown leadership at the international level by ratifying several treaties, and pledged to take on a leadership role on the ratification of regional treaties.
The advocacy meeting provided an important opportunity for identifying challenges encountered by the Government of Namibia in the ratification of African human rights treaties. Namibia has not yet become a party to the Kampala Convention, although it has signed it. The Minister pointed to some potential contextual challenges in the ratification of the Kampala Convention. She underscored that raising the awareness of relevant actors is essential for the ratification of this Convention and other AU human rights treaties.
The advocacy meeting kicked off with welcome remarks from Ms Yvonne Dausab, the Minister of Justice of Namibia, and the opening speeches of Prof Frans Viljoen, Director of the Centre for Human Rights, and Mr Lloyd Kuveya, Assistant Director of the Centre for Human Rights. Prof Viljoen set out the purpose of the Centre’s advocacy mission to Namibia and emphasised the role of ratifying the Kampala Convention and other African human rights treaties to protect and promote the rights of vulnerable persons including older persons and persons with disabilities. In addition, Mr Kuveya outlined the reasons why Namibia should ratify the African Disability Protocol by expanding on some key features of the Protocol. (link to roadmap for Namibia on Centre website)
Minister Yvonne Dausab shared her observations on internal displacement in Namibia and elaborated on the challenges in this regard. Participants of the meeting expressed the view that training on the AU treaties plays a crucial role in the ratification of these treaties.
The Advocacy meeting was enriched by the presentation of Dr Kennedy Kariseb, Lecturer at the University of Namibia, who demonstrated the shortcomings of Namibia’s legal and policy frameworks to protect internally displaced persons, and the potential role of the Kampala Convention in addressing the challenges. Dr Kariseb’s observations were strengthened by the intervention of Ms Omotunde Enigbokan, who spoke about the benefits of ratifying the Kampala Convention.
The meeting was attended by senior officials of the Ministry of Justice, including Ms Gladice Pickering, the Executive Director of the Ministry of Justice, and representatives from the Directorate of Legislative Drafting, and civil society organisations in Namibia. The advocacy mission was coordinated by Mr Abiy Ashenafi, Manager of the Migration Unit at Centre for Human Rights.
The advocacy meeting with officials was followed by a consultation with representatives of Namibian civil society organisations (CSOs), held on 4 April 2023. 37 participants from various CSOs, including the Southern Africa Refugee Protection, Namibia Institute for Democracy, Legal Assistance Center, Namibia Cross-border Traders Association, Women Solidarity Namibia, YMCA Namibia, Economic & Social Justice Trust, and Namibia Media Trust participated in the consultation meeting. The purpose of the consultative meeting with Namibian CSOs was to facilitate discussions on advocacy strategies for Namibia’s ratification of these treaties. Ms Pauline Dempers from the Namibian Non-Governmental Organisations Forum moderated the discussion on CSO advocacy strategies, and participants showed great enthusiasm to embark on advocacy for the ratification of the treaties and expressed that there is a need for capacity building on these treaties. The advocacy team also met with Hon Peya Mushelenga (PhD), Minister of Information and Communication Technology of Namibia, and discussed ways of overcoming challenges in the ratification of treaties that Namibia has signed but not ratified.
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